Two Worlds
by GalaxyPegasus14
Summary: Two sides. Two powers. Two different groups, fighting against each other for years. With darkness corrupting both sides, who will come out on top? RyoxOC, probably GinMado knowing me. Rated T for violence and blood. Medieval Japan AU.
1. Prologue

**Woot, woot! New story, finally! Been planning this one for a very long time and i'm really excited about it. I can also focus on it completely since i have no other running stories right now. **

**Gingka: You're crazy.**

**Me: I'M INSANE! GET IT RIGHT FOR ONCE AND DO THE DISCLAIMER!**

**Gingka: O.o Galaxy doesn't own MFB, only her OC, Setsuna.**

* * *

The land was quiet and peaceful. It was early in the morning, and few were normally stirring at this hour, with the exception of a few fishermen starting off to get a good start on the day's work. These few early risers were surprised, for this reason, to be passed by a young woman who was running towards the hills outside the village.

Setsuna's sandaled feet pounded the dirt roads as she ran towards an encampment in the distance, her breath frosty despite the warm morning. She labored up the hill, pausing to catch her breath once she reached the top.

"Hyahh!" she yelled, her grey-blue eyes shining in delight as she made a punching motion with her hands, causing a long pathway of ice to appear before her. The brunette took a few running steps, then jumped, landing lightly on the ice and sliding down the hill at a rapid pace, reaching the bottom in seconds.

At the bottom, she was caught by a young man wearing samurai armor, who picked her up and spun her in the air. Setsuna nearly squealed with delight and threw her arms around his neck.

"You're here early, milady." Ryo joked, setting his wife down and making a deep bow before offering her his arm to lean on.

Setsuna blushed and slipped her arm into Ryo's. "Well, when I heard you were back, I couldn't keep away."

"Of course not." Ryo grinned, picking up his helmet, which he had dropped in their greeting, and tucking it under his arm.

The two walked together across the open fields, chatting happily. They stayed together for hours until Setsuna declared with a sigh that she should probably get back to the house to make sure that the servants were working. Ryo offered to escort her, declaring that he wanted to see how their son had grown since he had left nearly a year ago.

"Well, breakfast is being cooked. Have you eaten yet?" Setsuna asked, noting the columns of smoke rising.

"I haven't, but… That doesn't look like cooking fire smoke, and i should know." Ryo muttered, taking off running towards the village.

Setsuna nervously followed. Knowing that Ryo was a fire user, she knew that he could easily be right, and if that smoke wasn't indicating a cooking fire, then there was only one thing it could possibly be indicating. As she and Ryo came over the top of the hill separating them from the village, they saw that their worst fears were true. The entire village was ablaze, undoubtedly lit by the red-clad ninja running around and looting it, killing anyone who got in their way.

Ryo plunged into battle with a yell, causing the ninja to scatter with their loot. The red-clad figures disappeared into the forest nearby, with Ryo following close behind. Setsuna busied herself with putting out the flames using her ice powers. She soon made a clear path to her own home, which had already collapsed.

"No…" the young mother dropped to her knees, burying her face in her hands, which quickly became covered in frost.

Setsuna shrieked in despair and anger, freezing the entire collapsed structure with one powerful blast. Ryo soon returned, dropping to his knees once he saw the blackened pile of timbers encased in ice.

The young samurai vowed that day that, no matter how many stood against him, he would always defeat them. He vowed that no matter how many times the ninja knocked him on his back, he would get back up and fight, fight to avenge the lives of his friends, but most importantly, his son.

Ryo stood and looked up at the sky, letting out an unearthly screech as a blazing creature appeared above him. Setsuna looked up and gasped at the sight of the legendary Phoenix.

* * *

**Yes, yes, it's short. XP Maybe i'll post the second chapter today, but it's not quite finished yet, so i'll see. The first two chapters sort of set the stage for the rest of the story, just so you know. Anyway, see you next chapter, whenever i post it!**


	2. Years That Follow

**Back with a second chapter for today. Enjoy!**

* * *

Years passed. Ryo and Setsuna left the village with Ryo's unit of samurai, moving to another village in the far north region, where the threat of ninja attack was almost nothing. Despite multiple attempts to have more children to replace the one they had lost, they remained childless, the only child they ever had being the one that had undoubtedly perished in the flames of their fallen village.

With Ryo often off fighting on the front lines, Setsuna took to caring for the many orphans in the village. Soon, they all considered her as their mother, and she considered them her children. Still, no other child could truly replace the one that had, for a fleeting moment, been hers.

She often pictured him, as she watched the other children at play. She saw a ghost of a redheaded toddler tripping over the doorstep right behind the real toddler that had just done exactly that. She saw him playing games with the others that he would have been the same age as had he survived. She watched the young samurai training and imagined a young man who looked exactly like her husband, surpassing them all even as tales of Ryo doing so on the front lines trickled back to her.

Ryo's prowess in battle and his seeming invincibility when fighting alongside his flaming partner had earned him the title of 'Phoenix.' He now commanded the unit he had once followed, and there was talk that he may become the supreme general of the samurai army in their fight against the ninja.

However, unknown to the two calmly living their lives, forces were at work which would change everything.

"There!"

"Get them!"

"Do not let any of them escape!"

"Yes sir, Commander Phoenix!"

"What are you idiots doing?!"

"Get back to the camp or Commander Pluto will be more angry than he is now that you snuck out!"

"Sorry, but we can't go back until we've proven ourselves."

"Forget it then! If you get killed, it's your own fault!"

"We don't plan on dying, not today!"

The fighting was fierce. Many on both sides died or were wounded. Ryo fought fiercely, ensuring that no ninja who entered combat with him would survive to tell the tale. He and the blazing bird that he fought alongside moved in perfect sync, he commanding it, it obeying every order. Ryo moved ahead of his troops, leaving them to fight the ninja on the front lines while he slipped behind to attack them.

The redhead soon found himself alone, stalking through the forest like a tiger on the hunt. The trees overhead rapidly grew denser, the air around closer, and the entire area darker. Owls hooted ominously through the trees, as if warning of extreme danger.

Ryo kept his guard up, the mood of the entire area making him feel uneasy. He considered leaving and heading back to his troops for a fleeting moment, then steeled himself and continued moving. He knew very well that this forest could easily hide hundreds of ninja, all slinking through the shadows unseen. There could be no less than a hundred around him now, stalking him, only waiting for a signal to attack and silently slit his throat.

A rustle in the bushes to his right caught his attention, as a flying kunai narrowly missed his armor and embedded itself in a tree. The effect was instantaneous. Several ninja leapt out of the trees, attacking all at once. With a loud yell, Ryo summoned his Phoenix partner and retaliated, lighting several trees on fire in the process. The flames attracted more ninja, and Ryo soon had his hands full defeating them all.

After an hour of whirling, dodging, slashing, and slicing, Ryo finally seemed to have gotten rid of all the ninja. His attention was suddenly attracted by a loud thud behind him. The redhead whirled, only to see two ninja drop to the ground next to a third that had clearly just fallen on his face out of the tree above.

The three froze instantly. Ryo stared them down, estimating their abilities. His grip tightened slightly on his sword as he noticed that this group seemed smaller than the others. His eyes widened slightly under his helmet as he noticed something surprising about the three in front of him.

"Why, you three are merely children! Are the ninja really so desperate to defeat us that they are sending children into battle?!"

"We came by our own choice." one ninja snapped.

"Your own choice, huh?" Ryo growled.

The redhead suddenly found himself in a dilemma. He had sworn to kill any ninja in his path, but honor demanded that he protect women and children. Judging by the smaller figures of all three, and the slightly more curved figure of one, he had not only children standing before him, but one of them was also a girl. Therefore, Ryo had a choice: stand by his oath and kill these three where they stood, with no mercy; or spare them because of their young age.

As he looked into their eyes, he saw one thing underneath the black masks and the brave facade: Fear. Ryo sighed and slowly sheathed his sword.

"Because you are children and the samurai code of honor demands that i not harm you, i will let you go. However, should we meet again in battle with you as adults, do not expect the same treatment." Ryo growled, narrowing his eyes at the three.

Much to his surprise, all three ninja bowed respectfully to him before disappearing into the bushes.

"We will remember…" their voices echoed through the trees.

* * *

The same voices echoed through Ryo's mind for weeks. We will remember. Remember what? His threat? The fact that he had spared them? Even as he returned to visit Setsuna and the many children she had now taken under her wing, the words still echoed.

"Are you okay? You seem distracted." Setsuna asked.

"I'm fine." Ryo sighed.

"Are not. Now what's wrong?"

"I spared a group of ninja. They were just children, so i couldn't go against the samurai code of honor and cut them down as well. They said they'd remember as they were leaving, and i don't know what they meant. Will they remember that i spared them, or remember the threat i gave them?"

"Well, whichever one they remember, you did the right thing." Setsuna said, helping him get his armor off.

"I hope you're right." Ryo sighed, then kissed his wife gently.

"Mr. Phoenix is back!" a girl's voice giggled, as a young brunette with turquoise eyes rushes over and hugged Ryo's legs.

Ryo laughed as he was swarmed by a number of young children.

"Well, haven't you all grown since i last saw you! Kenta, how's the fire training going?"

"I can do this!" Kenta puffed out his chest and blew a tiny fireball, unfortunately lighting the garden on fire. The brunette chuckled.

"Watch where you're blowing those things!" a young brunette yelped, spewing water around him to put out the fire.

"Impressive, Yuki." Ryo clapped.

Yuki bowed. Kenta pouted.

"Relax, you'll-" Ryo began, but was cut off by Madoka.

"YOU RUINED MY FLOWERS!" the brunette shrieked, displaying her sonic powers. Everyone clapped their hands over their ears except for a slightly muscular brunette who simply made a wall of earth around himself.

"I'm sorry!" Kenta yelped, sitting down on the ground and wrapping his arms around his head.

"Enough, Madoka." Setsuna said.

The small brunette girl sighed and calmed down.

"Come on, let's go fix those flowers." Setsuna said, gently leading the girl off.

Ryo sighed and settled into playing with the kids.


	3. Training

**I'ma back! XD For those of you who thought i killed Gingka or were wondering where he was, he's in this chapter. Also, there's an important AN at the end here, just about something i unfortunately see in reviews that bugs me a lot. (Most of you are fine, don't worry.) Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

It was no secret that the forest was a dangerous place, especially at night. Even the bravest of the samurai rarely went into the forest at night, and when they did, it was only with extreme planning and a large group. Some samurai blamed the forest for the fact that they didn't know where the ninja headquarters were. However, aside from the ninja threat, there were also multiple wild animals, some of which were controlled by the ninja. In short, it was the last place any samurai parent would choose to raise a child, yet that was exactly what the ninja were doing.

"Kyoya, your form is weak! Do it again!"

The greenette groaned and retrieved the shuriken he had been throwing.

"Yeah, Kyoya, bad form. Do it again, but you'll probably mess up again."

"Shut up, Ryuga." Kyoya snapped at the other ninja teen.

Ryuga smirked and threw his own shuriken, nailing the target and his form.

"Good job as usual, Ryuga." their sensei called.

Kyoya gritted his teeth and threw again.

"Better, Kyoya. Has anyone seen the other two? Hikaru, raise that left arm."

"I haven't sir." Hikaru replied evenly, facing off against a training dummy.

"The idiots are probably off getting themselves eaten." Ryuga sneered.

"Not with that new earthen wall technique that Hyoma learned recently." Hikaru said, splashing the white-haired ninja.

* * *

"Hyahh!"

"I think you got it taller this time! You're almost to that third branch!"

"The trouble is making them come up all around me at once."

"You'll get it eventually. At least you have powers."

"Yours will show eventually, they're just taking a bit longer."

"Yeah, because fifteen years is 'a bit longer.' Face it, i'm never going to be as cool as you guys."

"I highly doubt that. We just have to find the last kunai in the sheath, so to speak."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone has powers. There must just be something blocking yours from showing, like a piece of your mind is missing."

"And how do you plan on finding this missing piece, smart guy?"

"Well, what's one thing we all have that you don't?"

"Powers."

"Other than that."

"...Parents."

The earth ninja looked at his friend in surprise. "I thought Pluto-sama was your dad."

"He just raised me. The guy couldn't be any more different from me." the other sighed through his mask. "We don't even look alike. Plus, i'm adopted."

"I never knew that…"

"I never told you, although i just found out that it was true a week ago. I'd suspected it for a long time."

"Why?"

"I look nothing like him. His hair is purple, and mine," the teen reached up and pulled off his hood, "Is this blazing red color."

"True. But you know what, Gingka? Your parents have to be out there somewhere, and i bet that if you can find them, or find out who they are, you'll have the last kunai for your sheath."

"Thanks Hyoma. Maybe you're right." Gingka sighed, pulling his hood back up to hide his hair.

"But hey, in the meantime, you can work on beating Kyoya and Ryuga in a swordfight. They're going to get ahead of you if you two keep this up." Hikaru said, walking over to the two.

"Uhh… Wait, did training start already?" Gingka asked slowly.

Hikaru nodded.

"Gahh, we're late!" Gingka yelped, bolting.

"You know, if stupidity were a power, i'd think that was his." Hikaru sighed.

"Give him a break." Hyoma chuckled. "He's been a bit moody lately."

"So i heard. You'd better get to class before the sensei gets angrier."

"Right." Hyoma ran off after Gingka.

"There they are. You're late again, powerless."

"Shut up, Ryuga. I could beat you any day at swordfighting."

"Could not."

"Could too."

"I could beat both of you with my eyes shut." Kyoya boasted.

"Boys, quit arguing. Prepare for katana practice." the sensei ordered.

"Yes, Sensei." the three sighed as Hyoma and Hikaru arrived.

"So, how was your little adventure?" Hyoma asked Gingka as the group lined up.

"What 'adventure'?" Gingka asked.

"You know, the one with the-" Hyoma paused and glanced at the sensei, who was busy pulling Ryuga and Kyoya apart.

"With the samurai attack." Hyoma whispered as he raised his katana and crossed it with Gingka's blade.

"I'll tell you about it later." Gingka whispered, engaging Hyoma in a fierce battle.

"I see you boys are doing quite well." a voice said after a few hours.

Gingka instantly stiffened, turning slowly to face the owner of the voice. The others lowered their blades and stood at attention.

"Father, what an unexpected surprise." Gingka said, his voice carrying an undertone of anger.

Pluto smirked. "Well, if it was expected, then you boys might slack off until moments before i came, hmm?"

Ryuga huffed. "I wouldn't. These idiots slack off anyway."

"That's enough, Ryuga." the sensei said, putting a firm hand on the teen's shoulder. Ryuga merely smirked at the heated glares the others were giving him.

"What brings you here, Pluto-sama?" Hikaru asked.

"Merely to check on how you guys were doing. I want to see a full defensive run-through." Pluto replied.

Gingka's eyes darkened as he looked down at the ground. Hyoma glanced at his friend before nodding as the group spread out. Pluto raised a hand and sent a few small balls of dark energy at them. Hyoma put up a thick earthen wall. Ryuga knocked the attack away with a blast of flame while Hikaru threw up a wall of water. Kyoya created a wall of wind around himself and smirked. Gingka dodged, backflipping into the air and landing neatly on top of Hyoma's wall.

Pluto clapped. "Well done, but Gingka, i said defend, not dodge. Try again."

Gingka narrowed his eyes as Pluto fired another burst of dark energy directly at him. The masked redhead brought up his katana, catching the energy with the lower blade and slowing its advance. He spun the shining blade and brought it behind his head, then slashed forwards, slingshotting the energy back towards Pluto in a fluid movement. Pluto absorbed the energy with his hand, looking surprised and impressed.

"I said defend yourself, not attack me." he said.

"I did defend myself. The energy didn't hit me, and i didn't dodge. You didn't say we couldn't return it." Gingka replied cooly.

"Very well." Pluto smirked, turning away. "We move camp tonight. Begin packing up." he said before leaving.

Gingka sheathed his katana and sighed.

"That was really cool, Gingka!" Hikaru and Hyoma exclaimed as they walked over.

Gingka smiled slightly. "Thanks guys." he muttered before walking off after Pluto.

"So the brat's got some skill after all." Ryuga smirked.

"Apparently." Kyoya narrowed his eyes and stalked off.

* * *

"Sir, the Phoenix has arrived."

"Has he now? Send him in then."

The samurai guard bowed and walked out. Moments later, Ryo entered, his helmet tucked underneath his arm.

"You sent for me, Doji-sama?" he said, kneeling.

"Yes." Doji smirked. "Please, sit down."

Ryo did so, and soon found himself listening to Doji commending him for his work against the ninja.

"With respect sir," Ryo said once Doji had finished, "I doubt you called me here merely to commend me. I am merely doing my duty and avenging my lost child."

"Well, of course. That's what i expect of you. I called you here to offer you a position among my best commanders."

"A Daimyo?" Ryo was shocked.

Doji nodded.

"I am honored sir, but i do not think i am qualified for that position." Ryo stammered.

Doji frowned slightly. "Well, from what i've heard, you are more than qualified. I would be honored to have you at my side in battle."

"Then i will accept the offer." Ryo said.

"Good. You will have two weeks to arrange for your movement. You will be moving into the unoccupied castle of the previous Daimyo of the Kawachi province."

Ryo nodded and bowed before leaving.

* * *

"You're a Daimyo now?!" Setsuna was shocked when she was told.

Ryo nodded. "Yeah. Apparently i've been doing good enough work to get noticed by the Shogun, Doji-sama himself."

"Wow…" Setsuna breathed. "Look out, you're being ambushed." she whispered.

Ryo chuckled, spotting the tufts of brown hair in the bushes. He walked casually by, and was soon blasted with mud.

"Oh, you two want to play rough? Come here!" he laughed, chasing a giggling Yuki and Aguma out of the bushes.

"I is ninja. Fear me!" a black-haired toddler exclaimed, pointing a wooden katana at Ryo.

"Oh no! What will i do now?" Ryo feigned fright, then grabbed a wooden stick and pointed it at the toddler. "Battle me, if you dare!"

The toddler let out some sort of battle cry and charged, slashing at Ryo with his katana. The redhead laughed and fenced with him for a bit.

"You have skill, Ninja Zero, but can you beat the mighty Phoenix?" he asked.

Zero made a small sputtering noise in response, as a few sparks of flame flew from his lips. Ryo raised an eyebrow.

"Well, looks like you're a fire user, like me!" he said.

Zero puffed out his chest. "I blow big fireball. Watch!" he said, taking a deep breath and spitting out a few more sparks of flame that were soon put out by the aforementioned sputtering.

Ryo laughed and clapped. "Good job. That was a very big fireball."

Zero grinned and ran off. Ryo chuckled.

"Those kids are so adorable."

"Water fight!" a brunette toddler yelled at that moment, attacking Yuki with small droplets of water. The teen yelped and shielded himself with his own water powers, then lightly splashed the toddler.

"Setsuna-sama, Kite is fighting Yuki again!" Kenta whined as he was splashed.

"Oh, the endless joys of parenting." Setsuna groaned.

Ryo chuckled. "And blessings."

Both adults looked sad for a moment before Setsuna walked off and froze Kite and Yuki's war, literally. Both kids instantly protested. Yuki resorted to spraying blasts of water at Setsuna, who calmly froze them all before they reached her. Kite made a valiant attempt at a water attack, but none of his droplets reached Setsuna either.

"What have we got here? Two little dragons?" Ryo said, spotting Zero and a red-haired toddler shooting sparks at each other.

"He's not dragon. I am dragon." the red-haired toddler huffed.

"Of course you are, Sakyo. Now, why don't you show me your fireball, huh? I bet it's bigger than his."

"Is not." Zero pouted, crossing his arms stubbornly. "My fireball is biggest."

"No, mine!" Sakyo said, spitting fire at the other toddler. Zero responded with his own 'fireball' and a war ensued.

"Uhh, Setsuna!" Ryo called, putting a wall of flame between the two boys, who attempted to tackle each other through it. Ryo was forced to dispel the fire so that the two didn't get burned.

Setsuna groaned and motioned Chris over.

"Alright you two, time out." she said, grabbing Zero and pulling him off of Sakyo while Chris grabbed Sakyo. The two sat the toddlers down and froze them to the ground. Both instantly crossed their arms and pouted, glaring at each other, then huffed and looked away.

Ryo chuckled. "Toddler stubbornness."

"You said it." Setsuna sighed.

"We should start getting the house packed up so that we can move into the Daimyo palace." Ryo sighed.

Setsuna nodded and walked inside, calling Madoka and the other kids to help her. Ryo walked off, deep in thought. He went to the front gate to go out into the town, but was soon distracted by a weak cry. The Phoenix narrowed his eyes, looking around for the source, and soon spotted it: a small child. He gently leaned down and lifted the tiny figure, concern shining in his eyes. Moments later, he noticed a dirty figure lying motionless nearby.

"Madoka!" he called, gently rocking the baby in his arms to stop its crying.

The brunette soon came.

"Take her to Setsuna. Tell her to prepare a bed and some healing herbs." Ryo handed the pink-haired baby to Madoka, who nodded and carefully carried her inside. Ryo then lifted the limp figure of the injured woman from the street and carried her inside.

* * *

"Nnnnh… Where am i?"

"You are in the home of the Phoenix."

"My sister… Is she alright?"

"The baby? She is fine. What happened?"

"My family… We were traveling… And we were attacked by ninja… They tried to take her, but my father wouldn't let them… He handed her to me and told me to run and find the Phoenix, that he would take care of us…"

Setsuna nodded. 'You're safe now. I am Phoenix's wife. He found you out in the street and brought you inside."

The girl sighed in relief. "Thank you… Her name is Maru..." she moaned, then closed her eyes and gave one last shuddering breath before going limp.

Setsuna sighed and calmly froze the now-dead girl before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

Madoka was seated, gently rocking the baby, who had stopped crying and was now asleep.

"Her name is Maru. That girl was her older sister, but now, she's-" Setsuna sighed and bit her lip.

"I will arrange for her burial." Ryo muttered, walking out the door.

* * *

**M'kay, now that that's done... XP**

**There's something i see a lot in reviews, mostly from guest reviewers, but i've seen a few people with accounts do it too. I've put a note about this on my profile, but not everyone reads profiles, mostly stories. So, before this story progresses any further, i'd like to ask that if the only thing you have to say is 'update soon' please don't review. Now, that doesn't mean that you can't ask me to update soon in a review, but if that's the only thing you say, i just get annoyed. I update weekly, unless something prevents me from doing so, so updates are pretty frequent. All i ask of you guys is that you be patient. I WILL update every week, unless, as i mentioned, something happens and i don't get the chapter done in time.**

**A random fact about me: The more i'm pushed, the lazier i get. So, by just requesting that i update soon, you're actually making me less likely to update. Instead of that, tell me what you liked about the chapter. 'Update soon' doesn't motivate me. 'This chapter was so awesome because of A, B, and C reasons' does. I'm not mad at you guys, don't worry, but i'd like to see less reviews saying 'update soon' and nothing else, and more saying WHY i should update. **

**Basically, don't just tell me to update, tell me why i should update.**


	4. Mixup

**I'm back with another chapter! One thing to say before we start though: Doji's not a good guy. **

**Doji: I'm not?**

**Me: Of course not! Now get outta my AN!-shoves Doji out of AN- Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Gingka flopped down on the ground, panting.

"Tired already? I thought you were stronger than that, my son." Pluto sneered.

Gingka narrowed his eyes and glared. 'But i'm not your son, am i?"

"W-What?!" Pluto feigned hurt. "Of course you are!"

"No, i'm not. Am i just expendable, something to be thrown into the middle of a battle to kill as many enemies as i can before dying?! You had me fooled into thinking you really cared for a while there, but you don't, do you?!"

"Go to your room. Now." Pluto growled.

Gingka huffed angrily and turned, but stopped at the door and turned back.

"That's all any of us are, isn't it? Just expendable pawns for you to use for your own twisted purposes, whatever those are."

"You're right. That's all any of you ever were. Now go." Pluto snapped. Gingka shot him one last angered glare before leaving.

"Why that little-!" Ryuga growled, having overheard the whole conversation. Kyoya and Hyoma grabbed the fire ninja before he could break down the door and cause trouble.

"Ryuga, calm down!" Hyoma exclaimed silently.

"I'm not a pawn." Ryuga snarled.

"None of us are. Not any more." Kyoya growled.

"Kyoya?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

"We'll leave. We'll just pack up and go, and Pluto won't be the wiser. He can't stop us, and we'll take Gingka too." Kyoya said.

"Can we do that?" Hyoma raised an eyebrow.

"Why not? We're practically adults. We don't need someone to babysit us." Hikaru spoke up.

Ryuga nodded. "Let's do it. Let's grab Gingka and go."

"What about some of our other friends?" Hyoma asked.

"They can come too." Kyoya said. "Let's go. The sun's almost down."

Hyoma nodded and snuck around to the back of the house.

"Hsst, Gingka!"

The redhead poked his head out of the window. "What is it?" he asked annoyedly.

"We're leaving. We heard the argument between you and Pluto-sama. If you want to come with us, meet me outside my house after the sun sets."

Gingka blinked in surprise. "Alright." he said. "Guess i'll see you there."

Hyoma nodded. "Be careful."

"You too." Gingka ducked back inside as he heard Pluto coming.

"What do you want?"

"To apologize. You are not merely pawns. Your parents were killed by samurai when you were young, and i found you and took you in."

"You expect me to believe you?"

"Yes."

"Well, i don't." Gingka huffed, turning away. "Now would you just leave me alone?!"

Pluto sighed. "Fine. Don't accept my hospitality, after all i've done for you." he said, leaving.

"There was no hospitality." Gingka growled under his breath as he began packing up his weapons.

* * *

_"Come on Pluto, we both know the kid's not your biological son."_

_"Of course he's not. He's merely a pawn. Should his parents, who are now quite powerful, try to attack us, we can use him to convince them to leave us alone."_

_Gingka, hiding just outside the door, gasped lightly in surprise._

_"Don't they think he's dead?"_

_"Exactly. If his real father were to try defeating us, we simply reveal that we have his son, then threaten to kill him unless his father leaves. It's quite simple, really."_

_"So, you adopted him and pretended to be his real father to keep him close and get him to obey you. Brilliant."_

_"Exactly."_

* * *

Gingka growled at the memory, silently sliding kunai and shuriken into his belt.

"Ahh, Kira. My true son. I hope you did well at the training camp?"

"Yes, father. I also delivered your message."

"Good, good. Our ally is ready to call upon his forces?"

"Yes. He even has the Phoenix under his command."

Gingka narrowed his eyes and pressed his ear to the door, listening in.

"Excellent!" Pluto cackled. "Nobody will be able to stop us, and if they try, they will be destroyed, no matter who they are."

Kira grinned. "We will stand at the top of the world, and nobody will be able to stand against us."

"They will do exactly as we tell them or die." Pluto smirked.

Gingka gasped and backed to the other side of the room.

"They want total control… And they're allying with the samurai to do it? No, that can't happen. I can't let those guys be in control of all of Japan. It just can't happen, can't work! They'll enslave everyone without a second thought for age or anything!" he growled under his breath, then packed up the rest of his equipment in a hurry and ran to Hyoma's house through silhouetted trees.

* * *

"What?! That's just plain evil!" Hyoma exclaimed when Gingka told him what he had overheard.

Gingka nodded. "And it completely goes against the ninja code of striking only enemies."

"Well, i think that Pluto-sama will soon find that only about half of his ninja group plan on following his plans." Kyoya said, walking up.

"We've only got one problem though." a lavender-haired ninja said quietly.

"What is it, Dynamis?"

"We need a leader." Dynamis replied.

"Preferably not Ryuga or Kyoya. They're too arrogant." Hikaru said.

"Hey! Am not!" the two protested.

Gingka chuckled. "I have to agree with Hikaru guys. You two would just go off by yourselves and leave the rest of us behind. A leader can't do that."

"What about Dynamis?" a pink-haired ninja spoke up.

"No, i do not believe that i could lead. I will gladly support whoever we choose." Dynamis said.

"What about Gingka?" Hyoma said.

"Me? Why?" Gingka asked.

"Well, you did grow up under the care of Pluto-sama, so you've seen him leading, even if he is sort of an evil mastermind." a navy blue-haired young adult spoke up.

"And you're probably the best out of all of us with weapons." Dynamis said.

"No, i am." Kyoya and Ryuga said simultaneously.

Hikaru smacked them both. "Would you two shut up and kill those egos? They're getting annoying."

"Anyone who thinks Gingka should be leader raise your hand." Hyoma said, raising his hand. Gingka looked around in surprise as nearly the entire group immediately did so.

"You guys are sure about this?" the redhead said slowly. Everyone nodded.

"Face it Gingka. Even without powers, you're the best man for the job." Hyoma said, patting Gingka on the back.

"Okay then… Let's get out of here. We'll travel through the night, head for the edge of the forest, and camp by daylight until we're a couple of days out." Gingka decided.

"You heard him, head out!" Dynamis said, starting off. Gingka followed, and Dynamis let him take the lead.

* * *

"Greetings, my loyal Daimyos. I am sure you are all wondering why i have called you here?" Doji said, looking around the room. Nobody replied.

"The reason is quite simple." Doji said. "For some time now, i have been planning something. I have been planning something so big that it will change everything. It will end the war entirely, and we will be in complete control of Japan. Everyone will have to listen to us, and if they don't, they will be executed. And, i want all of you to be part of this glorious rule."

"Permission to speak, sir." Ryo said from the far end of the room.

"What is it?" Doji asked.

"What if a woman or child were to disobey an order? Would the samurai code be broken?" Ryo asked.

"Of course they would be punished. If they will not obey orders, they should be made an example to others so that we will not have a revolution against our glorious rule."

Ryo fell silent, stunned. He had always been taught that to go against the code was to lose all sense of honor. He had even gone far enough to spare a group of ninja because they were children, and now Doji wanted to do away with it, all in the name of complete control. As Doji explained that they were allying with the largest and strongest group of ninja, Ryo's anger grew. First Doji wanted to break the entire samurai code of conduct, now he wanted to ally with their greatest enemies to do it?!

It took no time at all for Ryo to decide that he was not going to go with this plan. Suddenly, the honor of being made a Daimyo was an insult. Doji had just wanted him to go along with the plan, but he wasn't going to do it. Ryo couldn't be bought by a title, and if Doji was going to go against the samurai code of honor, then Ryo would go against Doji.

The Phoenix waited for the meeting to be dismissed, deciding that, rather than risk Doji's threat of execution, he would quietly go home and pack up his family, then simply disappear. As he left, he realized that he would have to risk the forest. The samurai would find him if he went into the open plains, and that was where the majority of the population lived. Logically, even Doji's ninja allies would not be in the forest.

Ryo was careful in his planning. If he was going to risk the safety of Setsuna and their large adopted family, then he was going to do it with as little risk as possible. The women and teenagers would be in the middle, probably having to carry stuff, while the men would protect them from the outside and carry only their weapons or things they could put down quickly in the case of an attack.

* * *

"You look serious. What happened?" Setsuna asked, concerned, when she saw Ryo's face.

"Pack up everything. We're leaving and heading into the forest. Take only what we will need for survival." Ryo ordered quietly.

Setsuna gasped. "What?! But the forest is dangerous!"

"Not as dangerous as Doji's soldiers will be when he finds out that i'm not going along with his plan for total control. I will not break the samurai code or ally with our enemies." Ryo growled.

"I see. Then i'll get the others' help and we'll be ready by sundown." Setsuna sighed.

* * *

"Think we'll meet any ninja?" Zero asked as he and Sakyo packed up weapons.

"Maybe, but i hope not." Sakyo grunted.

"Maybe we'll meet friendly ninja." Zero mused.

"No such thing." Sakyo snapped.

Zero shrugged. "You never know."

"Oh, forget it. You're just an idiot." Sakyo sighed.

Zero smirked. "An idiot who blows a bigger fireball than you."

A tick mark appeared on Sakyo's forehead. "You can not!"

"Boys, quit arguing and keep working." Madoka called.

The two yelped and fell silent, not daring to push the brunette far enough to cause her to use her sonic powers.

"What's going on?" Maru and Eight muttered as they walked in, still half-asleep.

"We're leaving and going into hiding." Zero explained quickly.

"Hiding from what?" Eight asked, suddenly awake.

"From the Shogun's troops. Apparently Phoenix is going to disobey an order that violates the samurai code." Zero explained quickly.

"Wow." Eight sighed.

Zero nodded and continued pulling weapons off the wooden walls.

"He's a bold one." Madoka sighed as she pulled food supplies out of a nearby bin.

"He's going to get us all killed." Sakyo muttered.

"Oh, cheer up, would you?!" Zero exclaimed, smacking the other fire user on the head with the flat of a sword he was holding.

"You're such a downer, Sakyo." Eight teased.

"What? You all know that going into the forest for any length of time, but especially at night, is practically a death wish!" Sakyo snapped.

"Better than being killed in our sleep, now shut up and keep packing!" Madoka exclaimed.

* * *

"I'm going to miss this place…" Setsuna sighed as they left a couple of hours later. Everyone paused and looked back at the Daimyo's palace with its proud walls glistening in the moonlight.

"It's no longer our home." Ryo sighed, turning to look at the dark forest ahead with its darting shadows and lurking dangers.

"That is."

Everyone held their breaths for a moment as Ryo plunged into the thick, dark trees.

"Come on." he called, igniting a flame on his fingertips and leading the group into the black night.

* * *

**Woot, woot! There you have it: My main plot twist. Well, one of them. XD See you next chapter!**


	5. Discovery

**Wohoo! Update!**

**Gingka: Oh dear, someone's a bit hyper.**

**Me: Yup. And guess what else? I'm also hungry... And a bit tired...**

**Gingka: O.o THE COMBINATION OF DOOM! RUN!-bolts-**

**Me: Oi! Disclaimers first! Ughh, nevermind... FORGET DA DISCLAIMER, YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT I'MMA SAY ANYWAY!-explodes into glitter-**

* * *

"Everyone quiet!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Just hush! Enemies ahead. Get into the bushes!"

With what was unfortunately a rather large amount of noise and snapping branches, the entire group of samurai ducked down in an attempt to conceal their presence.

"You're on my foot!"

"Get your elbow out of my face!"

"Shut up or they'll hear us!"

Pluto raised a hand, signaling the army of ninja to stop.

"What is it, father?" Kira asked.

"Could be an ambush, could be the rogue samurai that our allies told us about in their message this morning." Pluto replied, patting the head of a large black wolf affectionately.

Ryo narrowed his eyes, recognizing the unique summon of Doji himself.

"Come now, Phoenix. Even with your prowess, you are no match for our entire army at once, especially not when you have an entire group of women and children to protect as well as yourself." Pluto called tauntingly.

Ryo growled under his breath and slowly reached for his sword as Pluto sent several ninja to fan out and search.

"There!" one exclaimed as the bushes across the small clearing rustled.

Pluto smirked. "Gotcha." he said, sending the ninja to that bush. They dove into the bush, slicing with their katanas, but found nothing.

Pluto blinked in confusion. A few of the ninja yelped and screamed as they were swept into the front ranks of the rest of the army by a large wave that came out of nowhere. The hidden group of samurai turned to Yuki, who shook his head.

"Wasn't me." he muttered.

"It seems we meet again, Phoenix. You spared me once, now i return the favor." a female voice said from the trees above.

Everyone looked up quickly. Sitting on the branch above, half-hidden in the shadows, was a female ninja dressed in dark blue.

"Fate and your samurai code of honor prevented you from killing me and my friends on the spot that day. Allow us to repay you." she said. "Quickly, go that way."

"Can we trust her?" Madoka asked skeptically.

"Well, it's trust me or get killed by them once they figure out where that attack really came from." the ninja girl replied, disappearing.

"We go." Ryo decided, quickly leading the way as more waves splashed Pluto's group of ninja and further distracted them.

* * *

The group of samurai ran for a while before pausing and looking around.

"We lost them." Ryo sighed.

"Let's take a break and get something to eat." Setsuna suggested.

"Told you there were friendly ninja." Zero smirked at Sakyo.

"Shut up." Sakyo rolled his eyes as he removed his helmet.

Zero smirked as he did the same, then walked off and peered around in the bushes.

"Don't go too far." Setsuna called after the teen.

"I won't." Zero promised, stepping into the bushes.

"Whoa! Look at this view!" the young samurai exclaimed.

"Is there really that much of a view over there?" Maru asked.

Zero nodded. "Yeah, i'm going to-whoa!" he yelped as he took another step and slipped right off the edge of a cliff.

"Zero!" Kenta and Yuki exclaimed, cautiously darting over.

In a flash, a black figure leapt out of a tree and over the edge of the cliff, the blade of a small kunai gleaming in his hand as he fell. He grabbed Zero's wrist, then jabbed the kunai into the rock. It slid for a bit before catching neatly in a small crevice.

"Why do you idiots wear so much armor, anyway? It makes this a lot harder." he grunted, straining to not lose his grip.

Zero gasped in surprise as he looked up past the black-gloved hand was tightly grasping his own. His eyes traced it up past the muscular arm and black facemask to a pair of fierce golden-brown eyes, the only part of the ninja's face that was visible.

"Now come on, start climbing or we'll never get back up." the black fabric covering the ninja's nose and mouth moved slightly as he spoke.

"Right." Zero grunted, reaching up with his other hand for a nearby rock and scrambling with his feet to find a foothold.

"Not much to hang on to on this cliff, so hang on." the ninja grunted, his muscles straining as he pulled Zero up to the same level as him.

Zero yelped as he was encased in cold water and lifted back up to the top of the cliff. Yuki sighed and released him, letting him carefully down on the ground along with the ninja, who instantly flipped up into a nearby tree.

"Wait!" Zero called as the ninja began disappearing. The black-clad figure turned, his weapons gleaming in the small amount of light peering through the treetops.

"Yes?" he said calmly.

"Thanks." Zero said, extending a hand.

The ninja hesitated, then nodded. "You're welcome." he said.

"Let me guess, you're another one of the ninja i spared that day?" Ryo said, stepping up to the tree.

"Yes. I've heard that you're going against this new alliance too, with Pluto and the samurai leader."

"And you heard that where?" Ryo asked, tensing slightly.

"From Hikaru." the ninja replied, as the blue-clad young woman from before landed lightly next to him.

"We are as much enemies of Pluto and Doji's plans as you are. We did not want to be used as pawns in their game, so we left." she said.

"Then who are you?" Ryo asked, still on his guard.

"My name is Gingka. I am leading a small band of ninja who feel the same way i do. I did not want to be used in that way, so i left with several others. We plan on fighting Pluto if it takes all of our lives. Join us, if you wish."

Ryo glanced at the group behind him and nodded.

"Very well. However, if you are tricking us, you can count on my full revenge." he said.

"This way then." Gingka said, disappearing.

"Oi, idiot! They're not ninja, remember?" Hikaru called with a sweatdrop.

"Right, sorry." Gingka reappeared, looking sheepish even through his mask. Hikaru smacked him, causing him to fall headfirst out of the tree.

"Idiot ninja." Sakyo huffed, then yelped as he was nearly nailed in the throat by a flying shuriken.

"Feel free to jump off that cliff if you want." Gingka snapped, retrieving his weapon and stalking off into the bushes.

Zero chuckled. "Scared of a ninja?"

"I'm not scared of those idiots."

"I heard that." Gingka called from up ahead. Sakyo growled.

* * *

"Welcome to our camp, or, what there is of one." Gingka said a couple of hours later as he led the way into a small cave entrance.

"How are we all gonna fit in there?" Zero asked skeptically.

"Just go." Hikaru said, following Gingka.

Ryo followed Hikaru, and the entire group of samurai was soon inside. They gazed in awe at the glittering crystalline formations inside the cavern, which turned out to be quite large. Several other openings covered with rough fabrics were barely visible through the near-complete darkness, the only light in the area being several fires that a couple of ninja clad in dark red and orange were tending.

"Ren, not-" Ryuga called, then groaned and stalked over to a young female ninja who was busily lighting a fire.

"Not what?" Ren asked innocently.

"That's too close to the supplies, idiot! You'll scorch them and then where will we be?!" Ryuga snapped.

"I've got it, just calm down and behave." Hikaru ordered, poking Ryuga's nose and putting out Ren's fire simultaneously.

"Quit treating me like i'm an idiotic child." Ryuga growled.

"You are an idiotic child." Hikaru called as she stalked off.

"Ouch." Zero commented, catching Ryuga's attention.

"You bring samurai, here?! Gingka, just how stupid are you?!" Ryuga yelled.

"Shut up, they're on our side." Gingka called from a ledge high above.

"And how do you know that?" Ryuga challenged.

Gingka rolled over so that he was facing Ryuga, his eyes gleaming in the light from the fires below. "Because Pluto was attacking them, and he had word from the samurai commander that they were not joining with their plans. What more proof do you need?"

Ryuga huffed. "Fine, but i'll have to see the proof myself first."

"Whatever." Gingka rolled over, turning his back on Ryuga.

"We've got extra caverns over here, if you guys want to put your stuff in them." Hikaru offered, pointing the way.

"Thank you, Hikaru, wasn't it?" Setsuna asked.

"Yes. And you're welcome." Hikaru smiled under her mask. "Call me if you need anything."

Ryo nodded and entered one of the sub-caverns.

* * *

"So, you're a fire ninja?" Zero said, approaching the dark red-clad ninja girl. Ren glanced up.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

Zero shrugged. "Because i'm a fire user too, i guess."

"Oh." Ren shrugged.

"If you don't mind me asking, do you guys ever take off those masks and hoods?"

"Sometimes, but usually only the masks, and only when we eat." Ren replied.

"Oh." Zero said.

"You seem to like us. That's unusual for a samurai." Ren commented.

Zero shrugged. "I have to admit that i have never really disliked the ninja. I don't see the point of fighting you guys."

"Well, there is none right now, at least not this group here." Ren giggled.

"True." Zero chuckled. "But now there's that other group that we have to stop."

Ren sighed. "Yeah."

"If those idiots think they can defeat us, they've got another thing coming." Ryuga huffed as he sat down with a fish on a stick, golden eyes gleaming in the light from the fire.

"Yeah." Zero said. "We'll beat them, all together!"

Ryuga chuckled. "I could have beat them singlehandedly."

"No, you couldn't. You're just one person, and even one water user could take you out easily." Gingka commented as he also sat down.

Ryua huffed. "Anyone could take you out."

Gingka's eyes flashed dangerously in the firelight. "Exactly the opposite, actually. Since i don't have a power, i don't have a weakness to another power. It works both ways." he growled.

"What do you mean, you don't have a power?" Ryo asked, coming over and overhearing the conversation.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Ryuga huffed. "He only has his weapons to fight with."

"I've never heard of that before." Ryo said, surprised.

Gingka sighed. "It's complicated… But if i have some elemental power, i've never been able to use it. I have no clue what it is or why i can't do it."

"Sometimes it takes longer. My grandfather didn't get his powers until my father was born. However, the power he ended up with was always visible in his eyes, as my grandmother said." Setsuna said.

"Well, at least i'm not the only one." Gingka sighed.

"Let me see your eyes. I may be able to find out what your power is and then you may be able to figure it out." Setsuna said, stepping over and sitting next to the ninja.

Gingka nodded and shifted position slightly, his golden-brown eyes meeting Setsuna's grey-blue ones. The ice user stared into the eyes of the ninja for a few moments before gasping and clapping a hand over her mouth.

"What is it?" Ryo asked, removing his helmet and setting it to the side. Gingka raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Nothing…" Setsuna muttered, looking away and into the fire.

"What did you see?" Ryo asked, sitting down next to her and setting his helmet down.

"So much sorrow… Pain… Anger… Yet determination as well." Setsuna said, looking back at Gingka's eyes. "Speed and flashes of fire and ice, rolled into a single bundle. Sparks of ferocity and gentleness rolled together."

"Sparks and fire… But ice?" Ryo looked confused, looking at Gingka. The samurai general raised an eyebrow at the shocked look implanted in the ninja's eyes as golden-brown met golden-brown. Setsuna looked between the two in awe, breathing slowly. The others standing around paused what they were doing, some staring in confusion, others with realization dawning on their faces as they saw what Setsuna had already found in Gingka's eyes.

Gingka suddenly leapt to his feet, turning away from Setsuna and Ryo. "Back to work. Nightfall is almost here." he called, climbing up to a high ledge and disappearing into one of the caverns. The others nodded and continued going about their various tasks.

"What was that all about?" Zero wondered.

"I think Gingka-sama will explain later." Ren muttered, poking the fire absentmindedly with a stick.

* * *

"Sundown's here, put out all the fires!" Ryuga called a while later. Hikaru leapt to her feet and splashed three fires before anyone else could react.

"Has Gingka eaten yet?" Hyoma asked, smothering a few fires with rock.

"I don't think so." Hikaru replied.

"I'll take something to him." Madoka volunteered.

"Thanks." Hikaru handed her a wooden dish with some food on it. "You know where to find him, and Hyoma can create a staircase for you if you need it."

Madoka nodded. "Alright." she said, heading for the high cavern that Gingka had disappeared into.

"Just be careful if he's moody. Sometimes he doesn't want to be talked to, and it's usually right after we've been talking about his lack of powers." Hyoma warned as he created a staircase of rock.

"Alright." Madoka said, feeling slightly nervous.

"Hello?" the brunette called softly. When she didn't get a reply, she cautiously pulled aside the curtain and poked her head in, then stepped into the cave upon seeing nobody. A few rays of moonlight streamed down from an opening at the other end of the cavern. Madoka slowly set down the plate she was carrying and moved towards it. She ducked through a hole in the rock and found herself out in the open air on a high ledge overlooking the forest below.

Madoka looked around, a bit frightened at being so high up. A small squeal of surprise escaped her lips as she spotted something out of the corner of her eye and turned. Gingka whirled at the sound, a kunai already gleaming in his hand, long black strips of tattered fabric wrapping around him as he turned and froze.

In one glance, Madoka figured it out. her mouth was slightly open as she breathed slowly, staring at the ninja in front of her. She found her body trembling slightly at the look in his eyes as he stood perfectly still, fear flashing across his face for a fleeting moment as he stared at her. A small gust of wind blew the loose fabric tied behind his head, causing it to wave slightly and unwrap from his body. His exposed hair waved in the wind as well, free from the usual confines of his hood.

"You're…" Madoka broke the silence, her voice low and trembling.

Gingka blinked, then slid his feet together, sheathing the kunai he had been holding. "Apparently." he muttered, taking a few deep breaths.

"Why didn't you tell them?" Madoka asked.

Gingka sighed and turned away from her, looking up at the rising moon. "I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"I just couldn't…" Gingka muttered, looking down at his black-gloved hands.

"You have to. I've grown up with them. They think you're dead, and they're always talking about you when they think nobody's listening." Madoka said, taking a step towards him.

"But how? How can i just walk up to two people who i've just met and tell them that i might be their long-lost son?"

"Just do it, like you said."

"It can't be that simple." Gingka sighed. "Don't tell them, please. If they're going to find out, i want it to be from me, not someone else. I want to be sure."

"Alright." Madoka sighed.

Gingka closed his eyes and pulled his hood back over his head, covering his blazing red hair. "It's getting late. We should go back inside." he muttered, turning and striding back for the small opening in the rock which Madoka had exited minutes before. Madoka nodded and followed him back inside, then left the sub-cavern, her eyes sparkling in amazement.

* * *

**Dun dun duuuuun! -dramatic music- Nah, maybe not just yet. XP Man, i'm hyper... I'll just stop typing now and let you go back to whatever you were doing before you noticed i updated. XP**


	6. Lightning

**I'ma back again! XD Not really much to say about this chapter, so enjoy!**

* * *

Days passed. No news of their enemies came, but the united group of samurai and ninja knew that Doji and Pluto were moving forward in secret. Madoka watched Gingka warily, wondering when he was going to tell Ryo and Setsuna who he really was. Over time, the ninja leader began showing signs of stress. He began snapping at everyone, and often went off by himself.

"Gingka's been pretty moody lately." Hyoma commented.

"The guy's got a lot of weight on his shoulders. I can't blame him." Dynamis sighed, looking up at the front of the group as they walked through the forest.

"Yeah, but even under pressure, he's not usually snappy." Hikaru said, coming up next to them.

"We should talk to him. It's got to have something to do with the fact that…" Hyoma glanced at Setsuna, who was walking slightly behind them, and lowered his voice. "That he's most likely the son of the Phoenix."

Dynamis nodded. "That would be logical. The resemblance between the two is remarkable." he whispered.

"Hang on, we're stopping." Hikaru commented, looking towards the front of the line to the two figures with their hands raised, the predetermined signal for everyone to stop.

Ryo and Gingka looked around with their eyes narrowed. Ryo slowly put his helmet on. Gingka reached over his shoulder for his sword with one hand, keeping the other close to the pouch that held his shurikens. A few twigs snapped. Ryo whirled towards them, while Gingka leapt into a tree. Everyone tensed.

"Run!" Ryo yelled as a few samurai and ninja attacked.

Setsuna bolted, with the other girls and the younger group following her.

"Why can't we fight?" Zero asked as he ran.

"We're still too young for now. Just keep running." Sakyo growled.

"Watch our backs." Setsuna said as she ran.

"Once we reach last night's shelter, i'll go back and tell the men." Hikaru said.

Setsuna nodded. "Keep going!" she called.

"Ryuga, Hyoma, everyone, go back and make sure they make it safely!" Gingka called.

"What about you?" King called.

"I'll be fine, now go!" Gingka yelled, swinging around a tree and kicking an enemy ninja in the stomach.

"Go with them!" Ryo called to the other samurai.

The group nodded and ran off. Ryo and Gingka fought together, Ryo's sword glowing red from the heat flowing through his hands. Gingka's sword flashed rapidly, as lightning-quick shuriken strikes flew from his fingers, creating a storm that instantly killed or wounded anyone who got too close to the ninja. Ryo had to admit that he was impressed at the speed and skill which the young ninja was displaying, as he watched Gingka out of the corner of his eye. The samurai took a quick step back as Gingka aimed a kunai across his chest, the weapon nearly grazing his armor before striking an attacking samurai between his breastplate and helmet.

Ryo whirled to meet another attack coming from behind, his sword still glowing with the heat of his own firey powers. He engaged in a fierce swordfight with the opposing samurai.

"Fighting with a ninja now, Phoenix? I thought you left because you hated them." the samurai taunted.

"I left because i disagreed with the way Doji was doing things. This ninja happens to feel the same way. Don't think that i can't change." Ryo replied calmly, igniting his sword as he fought.

"Only two left." Gingka grunted as he passed Ryo on his way to dispatch another enemy ninja.

Ryo nodded and busied himself with pressing harder against his own opponent. Sparks flew between swords and kunai as Gingka and the other ninja battled fiercely. Swords flashed like lightning between the ninja, while flames erupted between the two samurai as Ryo attacked.

While the two were busy fighting, a third enemy snuck around in the bushes, a kunai in his hand and an evil gleam in his eye. His arm tensed as he aimed carefully for Ryo's slightly exposed neck, waiting for the right moment to throw. The other samurai got in the way for a moment as Gingka finally managed to finish off his opponent. The redheaded ninja panted and turned towards Ryo right as the hidden assassin released his weapon.

"Look out!" Gingka yelled. Before Ryo could register in his mind what was happening, Gingka had leapt onto his shoulders and somersaulted off, landing neatly on top of Ryo's opponent and knocking him out cold before taking the blow intended for Ryo.

Ryo gasped in surprise, finished off his opponent, grabbed a spare kunai that was laying around, and threw it blindly, successfully taking out the hidden ninja. He then turned to Gingka, rushing over to him as soon as he spotted him. The ninja had already collapsed, panting heavily and gripping the weapon embedded in his ribcage.

"Hang on." Ryo said, helping him to pull it out.

Gingka coughed, a wet spot appearing on his black facemask. Ryo sighed and sat down, gently pulling the ninja into a sitting position against him.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"I couldn't… Let you die…" Gingka replied, opening half-focused eyes and looking up at the samurai.

"I've been in many battles. You are young and have more of your life ahead of you than i do." Ryo said, pressing a hand to Gingka's wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "We need to bandage this."

"Use… My mask…" Gingka whispered, struggling to stay conscious.

"Wouldn't that be against the ninja code? I know that it is forbidden to remove a ninja's mask." Ryo said gently.

"Better… Than dying… And you… have permission…" Gingka muttered, coughing.

"I'll have to remove your hood too." Ryo said.

"Just… do… it…" Gingka muttered as his head dropped back and he went limp.

"Hang in there!" Ryo exclaimed, keeping his eyes on the wound that was streaming blood and carefully removing the hood and mask hiding Gingka's face from view. He busied himself with wrapping the long strip of fabric around Gingka's torso, not looking away from the deadly wound until he had finished.

"There. That should…" Ryo's eyes widened as he looked at the exposed face of the young man in his arms.

"Impossible." he breathed. "It… It can't be!"

Ryo gently lifted Gingka as he stood, staring in shock at the blazing red hair of the ninja.

"It's you…" he whispered. "My son…"

Ryo's eyes steeled into determination as he took off running with Gingka's limp form in his arms.

* * *

"Where are they? Surely they would have escaped by now." Madoka mutters.

"They'll be here. Ryo's a great fighter." Setsuna muttered.

Madoka looked at the ice user, wondering how she would react if she knew that Gingka was her son. Setsuna's mind, however, was filled with worry and a nagging little thought in the back of her mind. She had already seen the resemblance in Gingka's golden-brown eyes, but had not realized it quite yet.

"I see them!" Zero called from his lookout post. "But… Phoenix is carrying Gingka-sama."

Hikaru and Hyoma glanced at each other worriedly and rushed to the mouth of the cave.

"Out of his way! Hikaru, get our medical supplies, quickly. It looks like Gingka's injured." Hyoma called. "And Zero, get in here!"

"Right." Zero muttered, jumping down from his perch and going into the cavern.

Mere moments after Hikaru reappeared out of a side cavern with the medical supplies, Ryo rushed in with Gingka in his arms.

"He needs help, quickly." the samurai panted.

"Lay him down over here." Hikaru ordered, laying out a blanket on the ground and patting it. Ryo dropped to his knees next to it and gently laid Gingka down before taking off his helmet and gazing down sorrowfully.

"Gingka's never been one to get hit. What happened?" Hikari asked as she began swiftly removing Gingka's armor and peeling away the fabric preventing her from getting at the wound.

"He leapt in front of an attack and took it for me." Ryo muttered as Setsuna came over.

Setsuna gasped and dropped to her knees as she caught sight of Gingka.

"It's him…" she whispered.

"Yes. He didn't know how to tell you, i suppose, and that's probably why he's been so snappy lately." Hikaru sighed as she continued working.

"How… is he even alive?" Setsuna slowly reached out a trembling hand and caressed Gingka's pale cheek with it.

"What do you mean?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow at Setsuna as she continued working, water flowing from the fingertips of one hand even as her other hand reached for a few strips of clean fabric.

"We thought he was dead." Ryo sighed. "Setsuna and i were out in the fields when it happened. We returned to find the entire village on fire and our home collapsed. We assumed that he was killed in the fire, buried under the rubble."

"I see." Hikaru said. "The ninja have been kidnapping babies and young children to use as… Persuasion… later on. They make it look like the child is dead, when they have really just snatched him or her away."

"I see." Ryo sighed.

"Will he be alright?" Setsuna asked sorrowfully.

"I think so." Hikaru muttered, tying a few bandages around Gingka's torso before gently laying him on his back.

"I'll let you guys take care of him." she said, getting up and walking off.

"I can barely believe it…" Setsuna whispered, gently caressing Gingka's face with one hand.

"Me neither." Ryo sighed, grabbing a blanket and laying it gently over Gingka.

"He's alive... Barely, but alive." Setsuna said.

"I still can't believe he took that attack… He probably knew he didn't have a chance of blocking it, but he knew who i was, so he leapt in front of it anyway."

"I even saw it in his eyes that night… That first night… And i didn't realize it." Setsuna whispered, a few tears falling from her eyes as she leaned against Ryo.

"Saw what?" Ryo asked gently, hugging his wife.

"His eyes look exactly like yours." Setsuna muttered wearily. "He is nearly a spitting image of you, now that his mask is off."

Ryo nodded and yawned, laying down and pulling Setsuna next to him. The two looked over at Gingka as the redhead groaned quietly in his sleep. Setsuna reached over and gently grabbed his hand, squeezing it.

"It's going to be okay…" she whispered before dropping off to sleep.

"You knew, didn't you?" Ryo asked as Hyoma handed him a blanket.

"The moment you took off your helmet that first night, we all knew." Hyoma replied quietly.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Gingka wanted to tell you himself. I guess he just didn't know exactly how."

"I see… Thanks, by the way." Ryo sighed.

Hyoma nodded, then bowed slightly and walked off after casting a slightly worried glance at Gingka.

* * *

"Ryo. Ryo, wake up."

"Hnn?" Ryo muttered, opening his eyes and sitting up at the sound of Setsuna's hushed voice. The ice wielder pointed a trembling finger at the rumpled blankets next to them.

"He's gone." she whispered.

Ryo instantly shot to his feet and looked around, lighting a small flame on his fingertips.

"I don't see him." he whispered as a flash of lightning lit up their cave. Everyone else woke up as the thunder sounded.

"Stupid storm." Ryuga muttered, rolling over and trying to go back to sleep. However, before he had even finished speaking, a second flash of lightning, with its accompanying clap of thunder, appeared.

"Would you shut up?!" Ryuga yelled.

"Yelling at a thunderstorm isn't going to get it to stop, idiot." Hikaru groaned.

"Sorry, did i wake you guys up?" a familiar voice said from the entrance to the cavern as lightning bolts flew everywhere around the cave.

Everyone whirled. Leaning against the cave wall, panting, was Gingka himself. Sparks and small bolts of lightning were flashing all around his body, lighting up the interior of the cave in an eerie bluish light.

"Gingka…" Hyoma whispered in awe.

The redhead flashed a wide grin as the lightning ceased.

"You were right, Hyoma. Not knowing who my parents were was holding back my powers." Gingka said.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Ren asked.

Gingka froze for a moment. "Uhh…"

"That's it, back to bed you go." Hikaru ordered.

"But i'm fine!" Gingka protested.

"No, you're not!" Hyoma exclaimed. "Your body is still weak. I can see it in the way you're standing, so don't even try to deny it!"

"Gingka." Setsuna said gently, stepping over to the ninja. Gingka looked at her, his eyes softening slightly. Setsuna instantly picked up the pained and exhausted look in the golden-brown pools.

"Come on." she said, putting an arm under his shoulders and supporting him back towards Ryo.

"You should have just told us." Ryo said sternly as Setsuna and Gingka reached him.

Gingka looked down at the ground, wincing as he did so. "I'm sorry…" he whispered slightly.

Ryo stepped forwards and scooped up his son in a tight, but gentle hug as tears began streaming from his eyes.

"My son…" he whispered.

Gingka winced slightly and hugged back, his wound protesting as he did so.

"Father…" he whimpered in pain.

The rest of the group watched, with smiles on their faces and in their hearts, tears in their eyes, and a solemn mood in the air. Gingka buried his face into Ryo's clothing, sobbing quietly and whimpering in pain from time to time. Setsuna joined the hug, sandwiching Gingka between her and Ryo.

"They raised all of us, but nobody could ever replace their real child." Kenta smiled.

"And we knew that from the start." Yuki nodded.

"They deserve to have him back." Madoka sighed happily.

"Lie down, Gingka." Ryo said gently, as he and Setsuna slowly lowered Gingka to the ground between them.

Gingka sniffled, winced, and obeyed, sneaking a hand over to his injured side. The family laid down together, and Ryo pulled a blanket over them all. Gingka opened his eyes and looked on either side of him, then closed his eyes and settled down, a feeling of warmth enveloping him. The warmth wasn't from his father, nor from his newfound powers, but from the closeness of his newfound family.

Even his friends, the ninja he had grown up with, had never been able to replace the ache that came from not having a family. The other ninja had chosen him to be their leader, a position he was honored to take, but now, he felt more honored to know that he was the son of the mighty Phoenix. No matter what the situation with Pluto and Doji brought, Gingka thought with an amused smile that it was thanks to them he had found his parents.

The darkness could rise all it wanted. Gingka found that he no longer cared as much, as long as he had his family and friends around him. As he drifted off to sleep, Gingka knew that, no matter what happened, he was glad he and Hikaru had not ignored the small band of samurai daring to stand against the rest.

Gingka knew who he was now. He was the son of Ryo and Setsuna Hagane, a ninja born of samurai parents. Both the blazing speed of the fire and the cold precision of the ice flowed through his veins, combining into the rapidfire, yet coldly precise, attacks of lightning itself.

* * *

**Gingka: Why am i still surprised that you keep doing this?**

**Me: Dunno, you shouldn't be after how many times i have done it. You're not dying.**

**Gingka: I don't believe you.**

**Me:-frowns- Fine then, Mr. Pouty Face.**

**Gingka:-sweatdrops- You sooo did not just call me that.**

**Me: Did too. Go on then, i've prestocked the emo corner with burgers.**


	7. Rescue

**I'm back! Sorry for not updating last week, I- well, don't have an excuse other than procrastination, lol. But, without further ado, here's the next chapter of Two Worlds! Enjoy! Oh, but before you start, there's one other thing that I've been chuckling over for the last two weeks: To summarize, practically every review from chapters 1-5 basically showed me that all of you were wondering what Gingka's power was. Chapter 6 reviews were all about the cute family reunion and Ryo and Setsuna finding out that Gingka was their son. Considering that, I've got two questions for you all:**

**1. Did nobody look at the cover picture? The background is the way it is for a reason, people!**

**and 2. I REVEALED GINGKA'S POWER AT THE END OF THE LAST CHAPTER AND NOBODY SEEMED TO NOTICE, LOL! If you guys did notice, you didn't mention it. Aren't I sneaky? XP**

* * *

"Hold still!"

"Ow! Hey!"

"Gingka, if you'd just cooperate we'd be done already!"

"It hurts!"

"I know! It'd hurt less if you'd stop fidgeting!"

"Gingka, don't make me come over there and tie you up." Ryo threatened.

The ninja glared at his father. "You don't have a rope."

"No, but your mother has ice."

"Which she wouldn't use on me for fear of injuring me."

"Would you two shut up?!"

The two redheads growled and huffed, turning away from each other. Setsuna sighed.

"Now for the last time, hold still." she told Gingka, tightening a fresh bandage over his wound.

Gingka yelped, then hissed in pain and pulled away. Setsuna sighed and handed him his shirt, which he quickly pulled on as he stalked off.

"He sure is stubborn." the ice user muttered as she dug through a pile of supplies and found Ryo's helmet.

"No kidding." Ryo chuckled, watching as Gingka grabbed the metal plate that protected his chest and buckled it on.

"Hikaru, where are my gauntlets?" he called, tying his mask over his face and wrinkling his nose at the slight smell of blood still on it.

"How should i know?" Hikaru asked.

"Didn't you take them off my arms yesterday?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean i remember where i put them."

Gingka sighed. "Help me look, would you?"

Hikaru lifted several objects with her water powers.

"Nevermind, I found them." Gingka called, buckling them onto his forearms.

"We have to move quickly." Ryo said.

"We can't with Gingka injured." Hikaru called.

"Can too, and we will." Gingka said.

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "You're too reckless."

"No, there's just a sense of urgency here." Gingka replied calmly as he slid his sword into its place on his back.

"We do need to move though. They know we're here now, and they'll try to smoke us out." Ryo said.

"And I, for one, would prefer to take the fight to them rather than having them surprise us in the middle of the night." Gingka said.

"Agreed." Ryo said.

Setsuna sighed. "There's not going to be any stopping you two, injuries or no injuries, is there?"

"Nope." Gingka and Ryo replied simultaneously.

Hikaru chuckled. "Like father, like son."

"No kidding." Madoka sighed.

"Let's move out!" Gingka called, heading for the cave entrance and pulling up his hood. Ryo followed, putting on his helmet as he went. Gingka shielded his eyes at the bright sunlight shining on them.

"Best move for the shadows." he said, plunging into the dense forest around them.

The rest of the group followed, a sort of solemn silence over them all as they pushed deeper and deeper. Setsuna and the other girls, minus Hikaru and Ren, began looking nervous the deeper they got.

"Hey, can we slow down just a little bit?" Madoka asked after a while, peering through the gloom.

Gingka paused and turned back towards her.

"Watch your step." he warned, extending a hand to help her across a gap between two rocks. Madoka yelped as her foot nearly slipped off into the rushing water below.

"I've got you." Gingka said calmly, pulling her over onto the large flat rock he was standing on and putting an arm around her waist to steady her. Madoka clung to his shoulders, her eyes wide.

"You alright?"

Madoka looked up into his gentle brown eyes and nodded.

"Good." Gingka said as he released her and turned to continue across the river.

"Just watch where I step and you'll be fine."

Madoka nodded, carefully following. As Gingka stepped onto the safety of the far bank, he turned, just in time to see Madoka slip off the rock and fall into the rushing river.

"Hikaru!" he called, diving in.

"Gahh! I'm not sure I have the skills to redirect an entire river!" Hikaru yelped, raising both hands in an attempt to do so.

The water swirled violently. Every once in a while, the group watching tensely from the bank could see a bit of black fabric or a swirl of brown hair. Setsuna shot a blast of ice across the river just above the rocks where they had crossed, stopping the river. Aguma and Titi created a further dam behind the ice. Hikaru directed all of the water downstream, as Titi created another wall to try stilling the area where Madoka and Gingka had entered the water.

"I don't see them." Hyoma called.

"They must have been swept downriver." Kyoya growled.

"Hikaru, with me." Ryuga ordered, striding off.

"Wait for us!" Ryo called, running after them with Zero and Yuki at his heels.

"Me too!" Setsuna began to run after them.

"Setsuna, get to safety with the others. We'll catch up!" Ryo called.

Setsuna sighed and nodded.

"Come on guys. They'll find him." Dynamis said calmly, turning and leading the way.

* * *

"See anything?" Ryo asked.

Yuki shook his head. "Nothing."

"Me neither." Hikaru sighed.

"I wonder if we could evaporate the river." Ryuga said.

"We might burn them." Ryo pointed out.

"They can deal with it. Better than drowning."

"I don't think we should." Zero said.

"Nobody cares about your opinion, kid." Ryuga huffed.

"I do." everyone else said at once. Ryuga sighed. Zero grinned.

"Fine, so we won't evaporate the water. At least I had an idea before you idiots shot it down."

Hikaru created a wave and washed Ryuga into the river.

"One idiot down, no more to go." she said.

Ryo sweatdropped. "Now we have three people to find."

Hikaru responded by lifting Ryuga out of the water in a bubble. The fire ninja was pounding against the sides angrily.

"Let me out!" He demanded.

"Say please."

"What?! There's no way I'm doing that!" Ryuga enveloped the inside of the bubble in flames, trying to evaporate it.

"Fire's weakness is water. Doing that is just a waste of your energy." Hikaru said, chuckling.

Ryuga stopped flaming and frowned, crossing his arms. "Let me out."

"Sorry, I'm still not hearing a please."

Ryuga groaned. "Fine. Please let me out."

"That's better." Hikaru said, popping the bubble and dumping Ryuga on the ground.

"Let's stop arguing and keep looking." Ryo said, sighing.

Hikaru nodded and hopped off down the river. The others followed.

* * *

Madoka was struggling. She thought to herself that any power other than sound would be quite useful right now, as sound merely passed through water, rather than moving, blocking, or evaporating it. At every chance she got, she sucked in air. However, these chances were rare, and she was often forced to suck in water at the end of a breath. She felt her body weakening, as black spots began crowding into her vision.

She struggled harder as something wrapped around her waist and began pulling her. She didn't know which way was up, but her frightened mind instantly told her that it wasn't the direction she was being pulled in. Madoka pulled against it, but it only tightened its grip, securing her against a solid figure. She stopped struggling as darkness slowly clouded her vision and she blacked out completely.

* * *

"I found them!" Zero's voice rang through the darkening trees. Ryo and the others froze, then turned and sped towards the young samurai.

"Where?!" Ryo demanded as he reached the young fire-user.

Zero pointed to a large tree on a rock in the center of the river. A familiar black-clad figure was straining to pull himself and the young woman he was holding onto it.

"Gingka! Hang on!" Hikaru called, concentrating and diverting the river.

The ninja turned his head slightly and looked at her. Ryo caught the flash of weariness in his son's eyes as Gingka nodded. Hikaru and Yuki soon had a path made from the rock to the riverbank, and Ryuga and Ryo soon had it dried out.

"Come on, we can't hold all of this back for long." Hikaru called.

Gingka let go of the branch he had been clinging to and made a few quick hops, crossing the distance between them in mere seconds. He laid Madoka gently down on the ground, then fell to his hands and knees, coughing up water.

"You did well." Ryo said, supporting him gently.

"Here, hang on and we'll get that water out of your lungs." Hikaru said, hovering her hands over Madoka's body and using her powers to expel the water from the brunette's lungs. Yuki quickly did the same for Gingka, who nodded gratefully once he could again breathe freely.

"We should get back to the others." Gingka said, standing.

Ryo lifted Madoka gently and nodded. Gingka led the way back upstream.

* * *

"I still don't see them."

"Relax, Ren. They'll be back soon enough."

"But it's nearly dark out."

"They'll be back."

"But-"

"Ren! Just quit worrying, would you?! You're not helping!"

The blonde sighed and turned reluctantly away from the entrance to the small caverns they had found.

"There they are!" Hyoma called from his position above the entrance. Ren instantly turned back.

Just emerging out of the bushes was Ryo, who was supporting Madoka. Ryuga was close behind him with an exhausted-looking Gingka, who stumbled slightly as he stepped out of the bushes. Setsuna was outside and with them mere moments after Hyoma had spoken.

"You're alright." She sighed in relief, hugging Ryo, then Madoka, and finally Gingka.

"Good thing they came after us. I'm not sure I would have made it out of that river otherwise." Gingka muttered.

Ryuga huffed. "I could have."

"A fire user stuck in a river? I'd like to see you try." Hikaru huffed, smacking Ryuga on the back of the head. He merely glared at her.

"I think i hear something." Madoka muttered.

Gingka's eyes flashed as he looked around. "Let's get inside." he said quietly.

Ryo nodded and ducked into the cave. Gingka and the others quickly followed.

"I swear, I heard something over here." a scout samurai said as he stepped into view.

"It was probably just a wild animal."

"Wild animals don't have voices. I heard voices."

The ninja scout sighed. "I'm going to check out that cave."

"Do that and it'll be the death of you." Gingka narrowed his eyes, pressing his back against the rock wall of the cave.

The enemy ninja moved towards the cave. Ryo motioned everyone back.

"Stay back, I've got this." Gingka said as Hyoma and Hikaru moved forwards.

The two nodded and stepped back, hiding in the shadows. The enemy ninja entered, a kunai in one hand, his eyes gleaming in the small light from the outside. Sparks flew from Gingka's eyes and fingertips as he stepped forwards and placed his hand on the red-clad ninja's back, causing him to gasp in surprise and collapse.

"They're here!" he managed to shout before being struck by a lightning bolt.

The samurai outside, hearing the cry and seeing the flash of light, bolted. Sparks of lightning chased after him as Gingka stepped into the doorway and looked at him.

"That used to it already, huh?" Hyoma chuckled.

"There will be more." Gingka sighed. "He'll get the others and we'll have the entire army after us soon."

"Better get moving then." Ryo grunted.

"But do we really all have the energy?" Hyoma said.

Gingka paused halfway to his pack and sighed. "No."

"Fighting will take even more energy than running." Ryo pointed out.

"Or the same, as they will pursue."

"So we've only got one option then." Gingka said, standing and looking around at the group. Ryo could see a hint of a playful grin underneath the black fabric covering Gingka's face. The samurai raised an eyebrow.

"Attack them at their center while they have left it unguarded to pursue us." Gingka said, his eyes flashing.

"That's suicide!" Setsuna gasped.

"But if it works… Then we win." Ryo muttered.

Ryuga huffed. "We can take those idiots."

"They won't expect our small group to attack them." Dynamis pointed out.

"Exactly." Gingka said.

"But what about the kids?" Setsuna asked.

"We can fight too." Ren said smugly.

"Yeah!" Zero and the others said.

"Are we in agreement then?" Gingka turned to Ryo.

The Phoenix chuckled. "I suppose so."

"Then let's go. We strike at the core and take the leaders out, and the rest of the army will be thrown into chaos."

* * *

**Well, now that that's done, I've just got one more thing to say... Something that will probably confuse a lot of people. Tell me what this looks like to you:**

"What if Doji was telling the truth? What if his claims were more than just the claims of a madman trying to confound the minds of the world, to get them to come under his control?"


	8. Assault

**Whew! Barely got this chapter done before the weekend was over. It's later than I usually like to post stuff, but I'm posting it now anyway. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'm going to be. Let's go."

Gingka grinned under his mask and dove over the side of the cliff, grabbing a tree branch and flipping over it before landing lightly on the ground and heading for the edge of the forest. The other ninja followed, while the samurai looked around confusedly before beginning to climb down, A few hand motions from Hyoma and the other earth users, and everyone was soon safely on the ground.

"Last one there's a rotten samurai." Ryuga said as he practically disappeared into the night.

"Hey! Not nice!" Kenta called as he ran off.

"Be quiet, everyone. We don't want them to know we're attacking." Dynamis said, directing his sound waves so that only their allies could hear them.

"Where did Gingka go?" Kenta asked suddenly.

"He's already up there." Hikaru chuckled, pointing at a shadowy figure already scaling the walls of Doji's fortress.

"Gahh! We'd better hurry then!" Ryo exclaimed, rushing off. The others chuckled and followed.

* * *

"Where is Doji?"

One samurai guard froze, trembling, as he was encased in earth with a calm, yet menacing voice sounding in his ear.

"Enemy attack! Sound the alarm!" He shouted, but no sound came out.

"Nobody can hear your calls for help." Dynamis hissed from a tree above. "I control sound. You are also the only one hearing my voice. Now, where is Doji?"

"I-inside the tallest tower." The samurai replied.

"Good. Hyoma?"

The other ninja nodded and completely covered the samurai in earth, then buried him underground.

"Keep moving. Gingka's nearly inside already." Dynamis called softly, redirecting his voice to the ears of his allies.

"He's not following the plan." Ryuga huffed.

"I thought we didn't have a plan other than sneaking in and taking the leaders out." Zero said as he darted across a small open area.

"He's got a point." Hikaru said as she followed.

"That's too many guards for us to take out." Ryo said, peering inside the gate.

"Then we'll do this." Hyoma said, moving the ground underneath them aside and creating a tunnel.

"How will we know how far to go?" Ren asked.

Hyoma paused. "Dynamis, can you hear what's going on in areas above us through rock?"

"If you make tiny holes in it to allow the sound through, I can." Dynamis replied calmly.

"Then let's go." Hyoma said, jumping down into the hole he had created.

"Hsst, Gingka! Down here!" Dynamis called.

Gingka looked down. Dynamis pointed and jumped into the hole. Gingka smiled under his mask and followed.

"Is that everyone?" Hyoma whispered.

Ryo lit a small flame on his fingertips and looked around quickly. "Yes."

Hyoma nodded and mostly covered up the opening. "Let's go then."

The fire users lit their hands up and scattered throughout the group.

"Dynamis?" Hyoma said, placing his hand on the roof of their artificial cavern.

Dynamis closed his eyes and listened. "Nothing's there." he said.

"Good." Hyoma opened up a hole and climbed out. Gingka was out and off through a nearby doorway before anyone could say 'wait.'

"He's got the speed of lightning, that one." Ryo chuckled.

"We'd better hurry then." Ryuga said, following after Gingka.

"He's already started fighting." Dynamis said as the sounds of battle reached his ears.

"Without me?!" Ryo yelped, taking off faster than the others thought possible for a man his age wearing armor. Hyoma chuckled as he followed, closing up the hole they had emerged from.

Gingka darted through darkened hallways, sparks of lightning and kunai flying from his fingertips at anyone who saw him or got in his way.

"He's just moving through." Hyoma commented as he and the others ran past dead or dying enemies.

"Leaving no survivors." Ryo whistled.

"That's how we were taught to do infiltrations. If they see you, or might see others you've killed, you take them out without letting them sound the alarm." Ryuga said.

"Swift and silent. The shadows in the darkest night, moving without even a breeze to indicate their presence. Silent killers, like death coming in the sleep of the enemy, taking them down without a single sound. Cunning as the panther stalking its prey, striking like the owl before the target even sees us. That's how we were trained, and without having powers for the majority of my life, I've become an expert at doing it." Gingka said, leaning against a doorway ahead.

"Well, glad to see you waited for us." Ryo said.

A hint of a smile flashed underneath the black fabric over Gingka's face before he stood and turned, opening the door just enough to allow his body to fit through it.

"Nothing here." he reported, moving through the darkened room, past silhouettes of armor and weapons. The others followed, heading up to the very top of the fortress.

* * *

"Sir, the watch on the southeastern side hasn't come around past here for the last hour."

"What of it? The idiot probably fell asleep at his post again," Doji huffed.

"Better make sure. I trained the ninja that are our enemies as well as those that are our allies. They could have taken out a simple samurai watch like the ones you're using easily." Pluto said.

"Go look." A deep, menacing voice came from a large pillar of darkness in the center of the room.

"You two, go-" Doji began, but was interrupted.

"I want you two to go personally check it out." the voice snarled. "You and all of your best fighters."

"Yes sir." Doji bowed and left the room, along with Pluto.

* * *

"They've got to be around here somewhere." Gingka muttered.

"The guard I interrogated said they were at the top of the tower." Dynamis said.

"You couldn't have mentioned that earlier?!" Gingka sweatdropped.

"If you had stayed with us, you would have known that." Ryuga huffed.

"Shh." Dynamis hissed.

"Well I was focusing on getting the job done!" Gingka hissed.

"No, seriously. Someone's coming." Dynamis snapped.

"Hide!" Ryo said.

Before Ryo had finished speaking, none of the ninja were visible. Zero and the other samurai looked around frantically. Zero, Sakyo, and Kite soon settled for hiding behind several racks of armor, hoping that their armor would blend in enough in the dark room that they wouldn't be noticed. Ryo found a pile of swords and laid down behind it, while Chris, Yuki, and Aguma positioned themselves next to several full suits of armor that were apparently being repaired.

The entire group held their breaths as several familiar enemy samurai and ninja entered.

"Fan out and search the area, including the two lower levels." Pluto ordered.

"You guys too." Doji said.

Kira and Baihu nodded , pulled up their ninja masks and hoods, then leapt out the nearest window. Yoshio and Captain Arrow grabbed some armor from the racks in front of Zero and Sakyo, putting it on before heading off down the stairs.

"Time for some poetic justice." Arrow said before disappearing.

"Do you ever shut up?" Dynamis heard Yoshio growl before the door to the staircase slammed.

"Do you guys know how wielders of darkness kill people?" Pluto asked. Dynamis heard everyone else tense.

Doji looked directly over at Ryo, smirking. "It's easy enough to demonstrate."

"Why don't you come out, Gingka? I know you're there." The room became darker as Pluto spoke. Dynamis closed his eyes, relying entirely on sound to detect his allies and enemies. He only hoped that the others would be able to do so as well.

"We kill by cutting off our target from everything. Sight, feeling, even sound." Pluto said. Dynamis heard a few of the samurai shift uncomfortably before every sound was cut off, leaving him in frightening silence. He clung to the wooden beam that he was laying on, as his last bit of sanity. However, much to his horror, even that was soon taken. He opened his eyes, but wondered if they were open. Nothing but thick darkness could be seen.

Zero and Sakyo clung to the racks in front of them until splinters dug through their gloves and into their fingertips. They lit flames on their fingertips and looked around. Within moments, they couldn't feel the heat of the flames, or even the pain the splinters were causing. They looked at their hands in alarm, but saw nothing.

"Trying to light up the darkness with your fire is useless." Doji taunted. "Any light is soon destroyed by my dark powers."

Ryo growled as he heard this. He too had been trying to see something, feel anything by igniting the flames that had comforted him through many a cold night in the field fighting. But nothing would get the flames to burn. His most desperate efforts failed.

"We kill by killing the mind. Eventually, you will all go insane from wanting to feel something, and you will kill yourselves. It won't be long. It will seem like an eternity until you do it, but it will have really only been a few moments of time. So why not just get it over with?" Pluto said.

Dynamis growled, then froze as he felt the cold metal of a kunai in the palm of his hand. When had he pulled it out of his pouch? He quickly slipped it back into the pouch, trembling. But he wasn't the only thing in the area trembling… So what else was?

"Impossible." Doji snarled, but his voice reached Dynamis's ears long after another sound had. It came again, a low rumbling noise, rippling through the darkness. A jagged line of bright blue light flashed across everyone's vision for a split second. Dynamis gasped as he saw Ryo standing from behind his pile of helmets in that brief instant.

"What's going on?!" Pluto asked as a second jagged line seared into everyone's eyes. Doji cried out in pain suddenly, and Dynamis heard a loud thud. The darkness suddenly retreated to reveal Doji on his knees next to Pluto, who was looking around him frantically. Ryo looked around and spotted Gingka in the darkest shadows at the corner of the room, his eyes flashing with the same jagged streaks that had just left afterimages in everyone's vision.

Gingka gripped the edge of the rafter he was crouching on, then flipped down and landed neatly behind Pluto, who instantly sensed him and whirled. Doji grunted and got to his feet, gripping his twitching left arm.

"That arm is now paralyzed. You won't be able to use it for a while, if at all anymore." Gingka said, his tone as cold as ice. Ryo and the others shivered slightly.

"So, the traitor at last shows his face. Perhaps i could convince you to join us by telling you that your father is among our forces." Pluto said.

"Lying won't get you anywhere. I know already that the Phoenix is my father." Gingka said, his eyes blazing.

Pluto froze at that, half turning to look at the armored figure standing behind him. Ryo removed his helmet and smirked slightly. Gingka pulled his hood off.

"The resemblance leaves no room for doubt. Fate seems to be working against you." Gingka said.

"Fate is on our side." Doji snarled.

Before anyone could open their mouths to reply, Gingka had made a throwing motion with his hand, paralyzing Doji's other arm. Pluto and Doji's eyes widened in fear and surprise.

"In case you haven't noticed, I've found my powers." Gingka smirked, snapping his fingers a couple of times and showing off the sparks created.

"That makes no difference. You don't know how to use them."

"Neither do you, but I'm finding that it's mostly instinct." Gingka said, slowly advancing towards the two. "I've seen fire, and i've seen ice. My parents have those two particular powers, so it hasn't taken much for me to figure out how to use the icy precision and fiery speed that my powers possess."

Pluto growled. "You cannot beat the ultimate darkness."

"Just watch me. With the allies that I have at my back, there's nobody I can't beat." Gingka said, raising a hand enveloped in lightning.

"Now, who's really in charge?" Gingka asked.

Pluto growled. "His name is Rago, and nothing you can do will stop him."

* * *

**Tadaa! Rago makes his entrance! And, as to the little bit that I put in the end AN of the last chapter, I'm not gonna explain it... Yet. Instead, I'ma give you something else to think about this week: The title of a song from a Disney movie. You don't have to listen to it unless you want to, but the song is "Not One of Us" from The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride.**


	9. Victory

**And now we have once again reached that bittersweet moment where I get to say five simple words to all of you: This is the final chapter. Yup, after this, Two Worlds is officially finished. **

**Gingka: Meaning I'm going to die.**

**Me: Oh, quit being such a pessimist and read the disclaimer. It's been a while since we've done one of those.**

**Gingka:-sigh- Galaxy doesn't own MFB, only her OC Setsuna and the plot for this story...**

**Me: And I apologize for updating late again. I've got two reasons, only one of which is a good one: 1. I procrastinated again. 2. I have been moving for the past few weeks and don't have internet at my new house yet. (Well, not until tonight, that is.) So, I couldn't write much... Meh, whatever. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

"Well, I suppose that's that." Ryo sighed, looking over the still bodies of Pluto and Doji.

"Not yet." Gingka turned, the long back fabric of his facemask swirling around him.

"Huh?" Hyoma leapt down.

"He means that guy named Rago." Dynamis said as he landed on the ground.

"If he's behind all of this, then we have to take him out to stop it." Gingka said, exiting the way Doji and Pluto had come. The others followed, slightly nervous at the deathly calm tone of Gingka's voice.

* * *

"So, you idiots made it out after all. Impressive, I must say." a deep, menacing voice said from a swirling pillar of darkness.

"Rago, I assume?" Gingka said. Ryo thought that it would not have been surprising had frost filled the room rather than Gingka's words.

"But of course. Your little journey ends here." Rago said, stepping out of the pillar and into view.

"So, you're the true head samurai then." Ryo said.

"No. I am neither samurai nor ninja. I am above both. A god, if you will, of destruction."

Ryuga huffed. "There's only one God, and I'm pretty sure He's not you. No, wait… Yeah, not you."

"Fools." Rago snorted, raising his hand and enveloping them in darkness.

The group waited, hanging on for dear life to the last sound they had heard: a strange clattering noise. Dynamis began humming, trying to hear anything to keep himself from going insane. The darkness pressed against everyone. Ryo could taste it on his tongue, a bitter taste with a sharp bite to it, as it invaded all of his senses and left him panicked.

Gingka made several movements, although he could not feel what he was doing. He momentarily panicked as no light or sound came.

"Fool. Did you think that my powers would be on the same level as Doji's or Pluto's?" Rago cackled. "You are a mere worm compared to me!"

Gingka growled under his breath.

"Now, die!" Rago cackled as darkness pressed in on all sides.

Gingka found himself gasping for breath, trying frantically to do anything against the darkness that was smothering him. His movements grew frantic, erratic, going faster and faster until he was sure that his entire body must be a blur. The darkness still pressed against him, not letting anything through.

"I can read your movements." Rago said. "I can control you, make you kill yourselves. I could crush every bone in your bodies, or merely suck the air out of your lungs. You are mere worms!"

Ryuga growled. "We are not worms." he snarled. "We will show you!" he flared his flames, pushing back the darkness.

"Fool!" Rago snarled.

Gingka narrowed his eyes as his lightning finally flashed.

"Kyahh!" Kyoya roared, creating a hurricane.

Chris's breath became frosty as large ice crystals appeared. Ryo and the others flared their powers, Dynamis using his to confuse Rago by bending the sound waves. Yuki and Hikaru provided more water for Chris to freeze, while Ryo and the other fire users provided Ryuga with more flames than the fire ninja could produce at once himself. Dynamis kept his sound waves away from Kyoya's wind, so as to not disrupt the airflow.

"Whoa!" Zero yelped as a fiery creature rose from the ground and roared menacingly before wrapping itself around Ryuga. The ninja smirked and patted its head lovingly before pointing at Rago, causing the creature to fly towards the now-visible dark lord.

Rago soon responded by swirling his hands around a ball of darkness, then firing it at the dragon approaching him. It took on the form of a dragon as well, and the two fought fiercely. Kyoya roared as a lion made of pure wind appeared and attacked Rago, who created a lion out of darkness and fought back. Chris soon summoned an ice warrior, who began firing freezing cold arrows at Rago, who merely returned fire.

Ryo turned to look at Gingka, then gasped. The ninja was practically coated in lightning, which coursed down his body, sparking from his fingertips and eyes as he stared Rago down. A few quick movements that the eye could barely see, and a lightning-born winged horse darted out of thin air.

"Whoa!" Zero stared around at all of the different animals that had appeared. He looked up as a hand was placed on his shoulder, and gasped in surprise at a tall samurai warrior made out of fire.

"What in the world…?" Shinobu yelped as he found himself standing next to a giant salamander wearing armor.

Sakyo looked up at his own dragon, which had folded a wing around him protectively.

"Attack!" They all called, their newly-born summons joining Ryo's familiar phoenix in charging Rago.

Swords flashed and clashed with pillars of darkness, glowing steel cutting through the blackness. Thunder rolled from Gingka's sword as he used the pillars as if they were trees, jumping between them and attacking Rago directly. The dark lord was forced to unsheath and use the giant sword strapped across his back.

Ryuga charged from behind, and soon found himself fighting the dark dragon that faced his own fire dragon. Chris engaged in a two-versus-one swordfight against Rago's dark warrior while staring in partial surprise at his own icy ally. Kyoya smirked, mounted his wind-infused lion, and ordered the beast to charge.

Rago concentrated and unleashed a shockwave of darkness that sent everyone flying back. Gingka soon recovered and swung onto the back of his pegasus, charging at Rago in a pillar of lightning. Ryuga climbed onto his dragon and also charged, while Chris and his ice warrior leapt into the air and pushed off of each other before attacking from two directions at once. Kyoya and his lion roared and fired mini tornadoes at Rago, who barely managed to evade them all.

Rago flared his dark energy, pushing everyone back and again enveloping them all.

"Don't give up, everyone!" Gingka and Ryo's voices rang before everything fell into silence.

Silence. Darkness. They invaded the mind, creating a strong desire for their opposites that nearly drove one mad. They pressed in, nearly tangible to those trapped inside. The brave group struggled, trying to fight before the silence and darkness sucked all the air out of their lungs. The darkness drove strong impulses into their minds, suggesting that they could just end this all by killing themselves. They fought against it, many dropping their weapons in horror as they felt the cold metal in their hands. They waited for the low rumbling noise or flashes of light that would indicate a breakthrough from Gingka, a move that would hopefully free them all.

Gingka's eyes flashed wildly in the darkness. His hands moved in rapidfire motions, trying to break free of the darkness that threatened to take over his mind.

"Just give up, worm." Rago's voice echoed.

"Never!" Gingka shouted, continuing to move and attack enemies he thought he could feel rather than see. He paused for a moment, his breath coming in short gasps as the darkness pressed into his mind and tried to suffocate him under its power.

"Just kill yourself and this can all end." Rago said.

"No. That's not an option." Gingka gasped.

"Isn't it? It won't be long before my darkness drives you mad and you do it anyway. Why wait for the madness to set in?"

"Even if I were to go mad, I wouldn't be able to kill myself anyway." Gingka said.

"You think that your own blades will not pierce your skin? Pathetic."

"They can't kill me if I don't know where they are." Gingka smirked.

"Oh, but I know where they are, and I can use my powers to tell your mind that." Rago said ominously.

"I don't believe that you can do that." Gingka narrowed his eyes.

"Watch me." Rago's voice faded and left Gingka in maddening silence. The redhead closed his eyes and clenched both hands tightly into fists, determined not to give in. He pressed his knuckles together, desperate to break free from the madness that was sucking the air out of his lungs.

Gingka suddenly tensed as he felt a warm breath down the back of his neck. His eyes flashed as he slowly turned. Something nudged him roughly in the chest and he stumbled backwards for a moment before grabbing it, cautiously feeling it to find out what it was. Warm air blew between his fingertips, as something gently bit his hand, leaving behind a moist warmth on his gloves. Cold metal armour clanged against the metal strapped onto Gingka's torso, causing a small spark.

Gingka narrowed his eyes, his lips curving upwards into a smirk underneath his mask as he felt his way back, past flowing hair and warm body, until he found what he was looking for: The saddle. In one swift motion, Gingka stepped into the stirrups and swung his right leg over the back of the creature that had broken through the darkness and reached him.

"Alright then buddy, let's show this idiot what we've got!" Gingka muttered, his hands easily finding the reins as lightning flashed at last.

"Impossible." Rago growled.

"Apparently not." Ryo said as the light returned and Gingka raised his sword, which he had somehow regained. The winged horse underneath him spread its wings and reared onto its hind legs, thrashing the front ones in the air for a few moments before slamming its hooves into the ground and thrusting its wings forwards, firing multiple bursts of lightning at Rago, who growled and tried to dodge, but was forced to block them.

"Attack!" Ryo called, spurring the others into action.

They attacked as one, from all directions. Hooves thundered while claws whipped the air into a frenzy. Wings flared and eyes blazed, as swords cut with icy precision and deadly heat. Flames burst from open, fanged mouths and Rago yelled in frustration. The room exploded, the building bursting into flames and collapsing in mere moments before all fell silent, Rago's army fleeing.

* * *

"Ryo?" Setsuna called, picking her way carefully through the rubble and looking around.

"Zero?" Ren fired bursts of flame into the air, trying to evoke a response from their allies.

"Gingka, if you can hear me, say something!" Madoka shrieked, her words echoing throughout the charred rubble.

"There!" Hikaru exclaimed as she saw part of the rubble shake.

(**A/N: This is where my insane side took over. I regret nothing.**)

A tornado soon swirled up a large section of the rubble and threw it far into the distance. Hikaru yelped and leapt back as a lion stood and roared. Kyoya panted and coughed as he gripped the lion's mane with one hand, leaning on it for support. The large cat let out a low growl and laid down, gently batting at Kyoya with one heavy paw and nearly knocking him over before picking him up in its jaws and happily sauntering over towards the surprised group of girls.

"Hey! Put me down!" Kyoya demanded.

Hikaru laughed. "What, can't get away from a mere kitty cat?"

"It's a lion." Kyoya growled.

"Whatever." Hikaru chuckled, then screamed in fright and surprise as a long scaled body burst out of the rubble nearby and roared.

"Over there." Ryuga pointed, giving the girls a smug look as his dragon flew towards them. However, the look on his face soon turned to one of surprise and embarrassment as the dragon turned its head around and licked him affectionately from head to toe.

"Hey! Cut that out!"

Hikaru and the others laughed at Ryuga's startled exclamation. Kyoya paused trying to pry his lion's mouth open and snickered at the now-soaking wet and fuming Ryuga.

"Is anyone here going to not do something stupid?" Chris groaned as his ice warrior helped him out of the rubble.

"Yahoo!" Zero whooped, twirling his sword in the air as he rode by on the shoulders of his fiery samurai warrior.

"I think we can take that as a no." Ryo chuckled, holding out his arm so that his Phoenix could land on it. The samurai general stroked the feathers of his fiery bird affectionately, telling it how good of a job it had just done. Chris sighed.

"But where's Gingka?" Madoka asked.

Everyone paused and looked around.

"I don't know." Ryo admitted worriedly.

"Gingka!" Madoka called.

A lightning bolt flashed.

"Well, that was a nice flight, but you have to warn me before taking off so suddenly." Gingka said, gently punching the neck of the armored Pegasus he was seated on. The horse nickered and sat down, causing Gingka to slide off its back with a startled yelp.

"Don't do that!" the ninja exclaimed, getting up and rubbing his tailbone. Everyone laughed, then yelped and dove out of the way as Pegasus whinnied angrily and fired lightning at them.

"Hey! Don't do that either!" Gingka grabbed the reins near the horse's chin and sternly turned it away. Pegasus snorted in amusement at the chaos it had just caused.

"Let's go home then." Ryo sighed.

"But where is home?" Setsuna asked.

"Our old village." Ryo replied. "If I remember correctly, it's not very far away."

"Of course!" Setsuna exclaimed. "We can rebuild it!"

"Let's go!" Ryo said, leading the way.

* * *

Over the next few months, the group became even more close knit. Gingka and the other ninja frequently disappeared, sometimes for days, but they always returned. Occasionally, they would return with a new ally, a samurai or ninja who had not been brave enough to go against Pluto and Doji's plans, or a youngster from some village who had decided to join them.

Madoka frequently caught Gingka silently watching her, from a nearby rooftop or high in a tree. Occasionally, Pegasus would appear at the front door, obviously annoyed, but complying with its masters requests and giving Madoka a ride around the village. No matter how hard the brunette tried, she could not catch the elusive redhead, although he had captured her heart, and she had captured his. Madoka remained patient, and, merely a year after the battle against Rago, she and Gingka were married.

Zero and the other young samurai became fascinated with the ninja ways, (Although Sakyo would never admit it,) and were soon asking Gingka and the other ninja to teach them. The young ninja, on the other hand, began trying out samurai fighting styles, creating a unique, and (if you asked Ryuga) rather amusing style of fighting.

Ryo and Setsuna watched proudly as the many children they had raised grew up and gained families of their own. Soon enough, they were able to again hear the cries and laughter of babies and young children.

"Even though we lost our own child, and didn't get the chance to raise him, it was worth it." Setsuna commented to Ryo one evening as they watched Gingka playing with his children in the light from the setting sun.

"Yes, it was." Ryo replied.

* * *

**Me: Well, now that that's done, I believe I have something to explain?**

**Gingka: Yeah, the random stuff you put in the end ANs of the last two chapters?**

**Me: Right. Let me put it in this order for you guys, add a few things onto it, and see if you can figure out what it means:**

**Not One Of Us:**

What if Doji was telling the truth?What if his claims were more than just the claims of a madman trying confound the minds of the world, to get them to come under his control? Alternate ending to Shogun Steel, because I just can't seem to get those last few episodes out of my brain.

**That's right, I'm announcing my next project. Once again, a Disney soundtrack song has given me a story title. Be on the lookout for "Not One of Us" next week! Oh, and if you want to, you can go check out the cover art for it over on DeviantArt. Galaxy over and out!**


End file.
